I finished Henry James' The Beast in the Jungle. I may have judged him as "a big bore" too quickly. I found that I was impatient with the circuitous syntax and the heavy-handed language, but I can see now that this jumbled, beating about the bush form of expression mirrors the protagonists thought processes. It's a clever little piece, but all the same, I don't know that I'm ready to read any other James works in the near future.

I decided to e-mail guy number 2 of the casual message/no photograph fame. I essentially wrote to thank him for his kind remarks and for his note, but stated quite frankly that I would need to to see a photograph and know something more about him before I would be able to determine whether a correspondence is something I'd want to invest in. I explained to him that he currently has the benefit of knowing what I look like and something about me (based on my now defunct profile on Friendster), but that I didn't have the same benefit.

I actually have peace about the whole situation now. I didn't feel right about not acknowledging him at all, but I also couldn't let him think that he was going to get the benefit of some e-mail discourse with me before I can determine some basics. I've heard nothing back at this point.

Well, I'm off to Annapolis for the day! And then later church. Gosh, but it's gorgeous out!